Indians take Seneca Tournament

One year after the Diamond boys defeated Seneca to win the Seneca Tournament, the teams reversed fortunes on Saturday as the Indians pulled off a 59-45 victory over the Wildcats to win the round-robin tourney.

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By Levi Payton

Neosho Daily News - Neosho, MO

By Levi Payton

Posted Dec. 8, 2012 at 12:01 AM
Updated Dec 8, 2012 at 11:39 PM

By Levi Payton

Posted Dec. 8, 2012 at 12:01 AM
Updated Dec 8, 2012 at 11:39 PM

SENECA

One year after the Diamond boys defeated Seneca to win the Seneca Tournament, the teams reversed fortunes on Saturday as the Indians pulled off a 59-45 victory over the Wildcats to win the round-robin tourney.

After a low-scoring first quarter that had the Indians in the lead, 6-5, Seneca came out on fire in the second quarter and outscored the Wildcats, 22-10.

Things got interesting again, however, as the Wildcats cut the deficit to 37-29 to open the fourth quarter. Once the Wildcats were forced to foul, however, the Indians put things away by shooting 11-for-12 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter to bury Diamond’s comeback bid. The Indians finished the game shooting 14-for-16 from the stripe.

“I was really happy with the tournament,” Indians coach Will King said. “I think all teams battled hard. There were good games in almost every game. Every night was a battle. I think every team had success and gained from it.”

It appeared the Indians were well on their way to victory when Ng sank a 3-pointer with 4.9 seconds remaining in regulation. The Tigers, however, ran the length of the floor and, in dramatic fashion, Josh Garfield sank a three of his own at the buzzer to tie the game at 45, sending it into overtime.

There wasn’t much scoring from that point forward, though the Tigers edged the Indians 10-8 through the overtime periods.

Bradley Jumper led the way for the Indians with 22 points while Harris and Ng racked up eight apiece, Roelfsema six, Murphy and St. Clair four and Smith one.

Tripp Tucker rattled in 14 points for the Tigers.

Seneca and Diamond both finished the tournament 2-1, with the Indians earning the tiebreaker with Saturday’s victory.